The former bishop was removed by Pope Francis amid a scandal over his 31 million-euro ($35-million) new residence.

The diocese said earlier this year that it had raised the issue with the Vatican, though it didn't file any formal complaint against Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst.

The decision was conveyed, Wednesday, by head of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet.

Source: BigStory

Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, 69, resigned as the ordinary of Ciudad del Este diocese last September, but the Holy See never specified why.

The resignation came after an apostolic visitation of the diocese arranged by Rome a few months earlier.

There had been controversies over financial and spending decisions as well as the bishop's appointment of a vicar-general who had been accused of molesting seminarians elsewhere.

The priest in question denied the allegations and the case was eventually settled.

After Bishop Livieres Plano resigned, US$1million in debt came to light.

Bishop Livieres Plano, a member of Opus Dei, asserted he had been "persecuted" for his orthodoxy by liberal parishioners and fellow bishops.

Asuncion Archbishop Edmundo Valenzuela told The Associated Press a group of Paraguayan clergy recently visited Bishop Livieres Plano in Buenos Aires.

"Happily we were able to say goodbye to our brother Rogelio" before he died, said Archbishop Valenzuela.

Meanwhile, a German newspaper has reported that Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst won't have to pay any compensation to his former Limburg diocese.

Bishop Tebartz-van Elst, who became known as the "Bishop of Bling" because of reports that he had authorised more than US$34 million in spending on his residence and other diocesan building projects, resigned in 2014.

In July, the Limburg diocese disclosed that it was seeking more than US$4 million in compensation from him for aspects of the spending.

However, a news report in Bild stated that Pope Francis has decided that the German bishop will not be required to repay expenses over the diocesan budget.

Bishop Tebartz-van Elst is now living in Rome, working on catechetical affairs for the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation.

Sources

• Associated Press
• Catholic World News
• Image: Tekton Ministries

Limburg diocese wants its former bishop, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, held responsible for the losses incurred during a luxury makeover of his residence and office.

The makeover cost $NZ52 million. An uproar ensued in 2013 when the details were made public.

This saw the Vatican demand that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst stand down.

He later resigned and, some time later, took up a role in the Roman Curia in the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation.

A Limburg diocesan investigation into the construction saga found the overall bill included $NZ6.5million of outright losses that had to be written off.

Bishop Tebartz-van Elst ran up the bill by demanding late and costly changes, requiring earlier work to be scrapped, and ordering design studies that were not used.

The bishop had paid out millions of euros towards the project from an off-the-books fund only he controlled.

Most German dioceses hold such reserves, known as the Bischoeflicher Stuhl ("bishop's chair").

These are diocesan nest eggs that are neither taxed nor mentioned in the annual financial reports where dioceses list how much they receive in revenues, donations and the special German church tax on parishioners.

Limburg diocese is in discussions with the Vatican to see if and how it can make its former bishop pay back the losses.

"In principle, the Holy See is responsible in cases of legal action against a bishop," a diocesan spokesperson said.

The diocese has not brought canon law charges against Bishop Tebartz-van Elst in a Vatican court.

It was also still trying to establish the full extent of the losses written off.

The diocese is also reviewing the pension it pays its former bishop.

Media reports have stated that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst is receiving NZ$11,700 a month from Limburg in addition to his monthly Vatican salary of about NZ$5000.

Sources

• Religion News Service
• Image: ABC News

Pope Francis will reportedly appoint Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst to a new position with the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation.

There has been no official confirmation of the appointment, but it appears Bishop Tebartz-van Elst will be a "delegate for catechesis" for the pontifical council.

It seems the position has been created just for him.

He was reportedly told of his new role by the Vatican's secretariat of state in December, according to a Vatican Insider article.

Last year, the Pope accepted the bishop's resignation as Bishop of Limburg.

The bishop's departure came after a Church report revealed spending approaching US$40 million on Bishop Tebartz-van Elst's official residence and diocesan centre.

This saw the prelate dubbed the "Bishop of Bling" in the media.

At the time his resignation was accepted, a Vatican statement noted that the bishop "will be assigned a different position at an opportune time".

Veteran Vatican correspondent John Thavis wrote that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst's position at the new evangelisation council "will involve making contact with bishops' conferences on issues involving religious education, which has been one of his areas of interest".

Thavis also noted that "it struck some as odd that a bishop forced to resign for financial mismanagement would land any job in the Roman Curia".

"All the more, in this case, because under the Curia restructuring plan being hammered out by papal commissions, the council for new evangelisation may well disappear sometime next year."

However, parking problematic bishops in the Curia is a bit of a Vatican tradition, Thavis wrote.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of Zambia was removed from his diocese over faith-healing practices in 1983, but was brought to the Council for Migrants and Travellers as a special delegate.

And, in 2011, Portuguese Bishop Carlo Azevedo ended up in a newly created position of delegate at the Pontifical Council for Culture, following disagreements with the patriarch of Lisbon, Thavis noted.

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• John Thavis
• Irish Times
• Reuters
• Image: The Guardian

Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg has caused a crisis in the German church for building a luxurious residence and office complex at a time when the Pope is stressing humility and service to the poor.

An initial audit revealed the project cost at least $NZ50 million, six times more than planned.

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The inquiry is officially called a "fraternal visit" to Limburg diocese by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the former Vatican nuncio (ambassador) in Berlin, and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst said in a statement he was looking forward to it.

Limburg diocese, which includes Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, has been in turmoil for months as reports of high cost overruns put pressure on Tebartz-van Elst, 53. Continue reading